Ten Long Years
by Fiona Flynn
Summary: It's been 10 years since the death of Christine Daae and Mr Y disappeared with her only son. No matter how hard he may try, he just can't let go, especially when Gustave returns with a new friend...
1. Chapter 1

Hello! Haven't written any fic for a while, so I'm a bit rusty. This is my first PotO/LND based fic, and this is the prologue to an idea I had the other day.

Anyway, constructive criticism is always welcome, and I hope you enjoy!

_**Prologue**_

Gustave watched as this man, Mr Y, leaned in to kiss his dying mother. He saw her grip loosen on his arm, and he knew then that she was gone. His beloved mother was dead, killed in a fit of rage. He looked behind him and saw Meg crying behind him, alone and cold. She met his gaze for a moment, and he could see that she was broken, dead inside. He turned once more to where his mother lay. Mr Y had hold of her hand as tears ran slowly down his face. He wasn't Mr Y anymore though, he was his father. This man that hadn't existed until the other day was his father.

Gustave moved closer, and his father looked up from his mother's lifeless form, setting her gently down on the soft ground. It was like she was sleeping. He wiped a tear away with his hand, before turning to face him again. He looked him up and down, as if he was searching for something to say, but his words escaped him. Slowly, Gustave reached out to touch the mask that covered the right side of his fathers face. He knew what was underneath now, and he knew to look beyond the deformity, as his mother had done, to the beauty underneath. He had no more fear. Gently he pulled the mask off, and unflinching looked into the eyes of his father. It all made no much sense now that he thought of it. He was nothing like Raoul, he never had been. He had the same eyes, the exact same colour. Looking past the mangled flesh that lay beneath, he could see the pain in his father's eyes. It was obvious that he had loved his mother so much, and he could feel his pain as he looked at him. Gustave kept tight hold of the mask and he watched as his father stood up and removed his cloak, placing it over the body.

The Phantom stepped back, and rubbed his face with his hands. His Christine was gone, and now she would never return to him. It didn't seem real. His heart was broken into pieces, and yet, he had to compose himself; he had the boy to think about now. He looked down at Gustave. Gustave, Christine and his own flesh and blood. She was still alive, inside Gustave. But what was he to do? He never knew his father; his mother had abandoned him, sold him to a freak show. He had never lived in a proper home, had a proper job. How was he to care for a child that would be totally dependant on him? He didn't know the first thing about being a parent. In the back of his mind, he heard a voice, that same voice that he had heard the night he left Christine, "You can't look after the boy, and he won't love you. He'd be better off with out you. Raoul could take better care of him than you!" He closed his eyes and shook his head. He had made the mistake of listening to the voice before. He would never do it again. He could do this; he would do it for Christine. He took a deep breath, and held out his hand, and the boy, his son, ran towards him and wrapped his hands around his waist, sobbing in his arms.

He kept a tight grip of the boy, running his hands through his hair, and he felt some comfort. So long as he had Gustave, he had Christine. His eyes and looked around; Meg was in a heap on the floor. The gun still in her hand, he felt hate for her. Her stupidity had killed the only woman in the world that he had ever loved. The only person to have ever loved him back. He could kill her, he had killed before. She deserved it, just as the others had deserved it. His mind was taken over by dark thoughts. "Please, you're hurting me!" Gustave was squirming in his arms, and he loosened his grip, his arms dropping to his sides. Gustave had an uneasy look on his face. He took one last look at Meg. Those days were gone. He couldn't kill her, not now that he had a son.

In the distance could see Madame Giry returning. She had a crowd of people behind her. He looked down and saw Gustave still had hold of his mask. He held out his hand, "Gustave, Please." Gustave placed the mask in his hand and quickly he placed it on his face once more. "Gustave, stay here." Gustave nodded, and knelt on the ground, next to his mother. The Phantom stepped forward. He could see in the crowd the flashbulbs. It was disgusting that at a time like this. He could feel the rage building up inside of him, but he had to be strong, for Gustave. The police and paramedics separated from the crowd, surrounding both Meg and Christine, The press and public stopped in front of him. The cameras went off. "Mr Y!"

"Mr Y, are the rumours true?"

"Christine Daae, is she dead?"

"Sir, where is the Vicompte?"

"Please! Quiet. QUIET!" The crowd hushed, and the Phantom cleared his voice, "Christine, the Countess de Chagny, is dead" it pained him to use her married name, she would always be Christine Daae to him, but it pained him even more to say that she was dead aloud, it made it so final. The crowd was hushed, and he could hear whispers, sobbing from deep within the crowd. "The Vicompte, had business in France to attend to, and boarded the Atlantic Queen this evening. He will be informed as soon as possible" They would never have to know the real reason for Raoul's departure, "If you will, please, go to Pantasma, free of charge, and I will tell you more later. But now, for the sake of the boy, Leave." Almost in unison, the crowd looked down at Gustave, before they slowly began to disperse. The Phantom sighed once more. He heard a scream, and saw several police officers wrestling Meg to the ground. He stepped towards the scrum, "Please gentlemen, don't harm her. There has been enough pain tonight." The officers nodded, and more gently now, they picked Meg off the ground. As she stood up, she looked at him. He could see that the brightness was gone from her eyes; she was dead inside the hate that he had felt moments before turned to pity. "I'm sorry" she croaked apologetically, before looking at the ground as she was dragged away. Madame Giry hung back as they led her away. She turned to face him, "Master, I'm… I'm sorry, if only I had never… I had no idea…"

"It is too late for "If only's" Madame" he whispered coldly. Giry guiltily averted her gaze to look down at the boy, before looking back to him, "You know where I will be if you need anything, Master" Giry bowed down, before rushing away to follow after Meg.

He turned back to face where Christine lay. She had been lifted onto a stretcher now. Gustave was stood to one side, a glazed look on his face. The Phantom stepped towards the men about to take her away, "May we have a moment please?" The men nodded and set the stretcher back down on the ground, and the phantom knelt down next to her. Slowly he removed the cover from her face once more. Her skin was pale, and her skin now felt cold to the touch. Were it not for the blue tint now creeping across her skin, she could be mistaken for one of his automatons back at the Aerie. Gustave was knelt next to him now. He placed a reassuring arm around him and pulled him close. "Don't ever forget, Gustave. Never forget. If you always remember, she will always be alive, in your heart. Love will never die." Gustave nodded. "Christine didn't deserve to die. She was so young, so full of life and song" Gustave nodded again, and wiped tears from his face. "What happens now, father?" It was strange being called father, it was never something that he had expected to happen. He paused in thought. "We leave. I can't bear it. I can't be here, knowing…. Knowing that this is the place where she died. We can leave, start again, just us."

"But where? Where will we go?"

"I don't know, Gustave. I don't know. But we must go forward, and not look back" He took one last look a Christine, and kissed her gently, one last time. Gustave did the same. "Goodbye, mother. I love you." he whispered. The Phantom slowly covered her once more before he stood up, and lifted Gustave into his arms, and together without a backward glance they left Coney Island, into the unknown.


	2. Chapter 2

Gustave stood in the cool night air on the deck of the _Admiral_. He had been on a trip to London and now he was finally on his way home, back to America. He had lived there for ten years now, ever since his mother had died. So much had changed in the following years. He had discovered that the man he believed to be his father was not his father, and that his real father was in fact a man that he knew nothing about, even now after so many years. He wouldn't talk to Gustave about the circumstances by which he had met his mother. After his mother had been killed, they had left Coney Island together. He had never even questioned it, at the time he had been too shocked to consider what he was doing, and at the time he had the feeling that it was what his mother had wanted. For the first few months that they were together, they had moved around the East coast. They would never stay in one place for too long, his father scared that someone would try to steal Gustave from him. It was obvious that this new man had no idea how to care for a child, choosing to treat Gustave more as a friend than his son, and he often found it hard to emphasise with him. They had been moving for around five months when his father received a letter from Madame Giry. Gustav knew little about her, only that she had been the Ballet mistress when his mother had been growing up in the Opera Populaire, and that it was her daughter that had kidnapped him and eventually killed his mother. The letter said that her daugher, Meg had been sent to prison and that she had moved to the West coast, California to be precise, where she had happened upon a studio, looking for someone to provide music for the films that they were producing. She said that she lied to them to secure the job, and that if he joined her, he could live in seclusion, writing the music, and she would pass it off as her own. Gustave was reluctant to go, he wasn't sure that he could trust her, but his father insisted. The rest, as they say, was history. One of the first things that Gustave learnt about his new father was that he was a musical genius. He was able to write some of the most beautiful music that Gustave had ever heard. It suddenly explained Gustaves talent. When he was working, Gustave hardly ever saw his father, he would lock himself away, weeks at a time, consumed in his compositions, never happy with his work. He knew he was better than simple compositions, but it paid, and nobody asked any questions.

Gustave had spent most of his time around the studio. No one seemed to mind, it was just accepted. Madame Giry told everyone that he was her grandson. He learnt all about the art of making movies, and had made a friend in Artie Godfrey, a talent scout for the studio. He began to travel around with Artie when his father was busy and he helped Artie to find and recruit people for the studios. By the time he was 17 he was going out on his own to the theatres in search of new talent for the studio. That was how he ended up in London. One of the executives had needed someone to travel, as Artie was unable to go, and Gustave had jumped at the chance of a three-month trip away from America.

Whilst in London, he took the opportunity to visit the theatres. One night, he booked a private box to see the latest adaptation _Hannibal_, the first opera that his mother had taken a leading role in. However when he got to the theatre he discovered that someone already occupied his box. This someone happened to be one of the most beautiful women that he had ever met. Elodie Blanchette was 20 years old with long, light brown hair that glowed in the soft candle light of the box. She had deep hazel eyes and porcelain skin. "Hello?"

"Oh, erm, hello"

"Can I help you?" she asked. " I thought I had booked this box"

"No" she shook her head, "This is normally my father's box"

"I'll go, I'm sorry…"

"No, stay, please, there's another seat" she pointed at a chair to the left, "I doubt that my father will be here tonight, he never was a fan of Hannibal." She smiled and settled back into her seat, Gustave sat beside her. " My name is Elodie, by the way" she held out her hand, and Gustave shook it, "Gustave"

"Pleased to meet you Gustave" They continued to speak in hushed tones as the opera started. She had been born in Paris, but was sent to London by her father to attend school after her mother had died when she was five years old. She had enjoyed living in London so much, that rather then return home to her father after school had finished, that she chose to stay in London with a friend of her mother's. "I was going for supper when the opera finished, but I don't think I care for Hannibal, would you care to join me?"

"Of course!" He jumped at the chance to spend more time with her, and he saw her everyday for the rest of his trip.

They spoke about their childhood, but Gustave didn't tell her who his mother was, or much about what he was doing in London, he wanted to make sure that she liked his for being himself rather than being a talent scout or the son of a famous singer. He had fell for that before. But there was one particular conversation with Elodie that had shocked Gustave.

They were having tea back at Gustave's lodgings, when they began to speak about the ghost stories they were told when they were younger, Elodie began to tell him one of her favourites, "My mother used to talk about it all the time, the story of Christine and the Opera Ghost…It starts with the death of Gustave Daae. When he died, he left his only child, Christine in the care of an old friend, a woman that he met whilst in Paris. Madame Giry was the Ballet Mistress at the Opera Populaire and she took Christine in as her own. Christine grew into an excellent dancer, a real talent, but she couldn't hold a tune. One day though, when she was about 17, Meg Giry, Madame Giry's daughter and Christine's best friend walked past her dressing room and heard her singing, pitch perfect! She wouldn't tell anyone how she had became so good. Anyway, one day some new people took over the opera and when the Diva was singing for them, some of the rigging came loose and the curtain fell down one her, so she walked out. She blamed the Opera Ghost for it and many other strange things that happened. Madame Giry put Christine forward to sing the lead role, and she was a great success, catching the eye of the Raoul, her childhood sweetheart, but when he went backstage, she had vanished! No one knew where she had gone. Raoul received a warning from the opera ghost, telling him to stay away from Christine. But he wouldn't leave her, he wanted to save her from the ghost, so he came up with a plan to trap the Phantom" Gustave listened intently, surely she couldn't be talking about his mother. "On the night of the performance of one of the phantoms operas, Christine was cast as the lead, and the play went ahead as planned, but they surrounded the theatre with police, they knew that if Christine was there that he would be sure to turn up... and he did! He stole her again, taking her down to his lair underneath the theatre. They chased him, and Raoul saved Christine, but the Phantom had disappeared by the time the police got into the lair"

"And what happened to Raoul and Christine?"

"My mother said that they lived happily ever after, that they got married, had a child." It couldn't be true, but it had to be. His father was the opera ghost. His mother had never spoke of it, and now he was more confused than ever, and scared to return to America. He quickly changed the topic, and intrigued by the story, and wanting to find out more from her, he invited her to America with him…

"Gustave!" he snapped out of his thoughts, Elodie was running towards him, "There you are! I was looking everywhere for you! Mrs Prince says that if we go up to the top deck, we'll be able to see America!" she held out her hand, but he hesitated. "Elodie, there's something I need to tell you" Gustave said, he had to say something to her about who he was, "Elodie, my mother, she was Christine Daae…"


End file.
